The Barefoot Emperor

During an unfortunate incident in Sarajevo, the King of the Belgians suffers a gunshot wound to the ear. He wakes up on a Croatian island, once Tito’s famed summer residence and now a sanatorium. As the king’s entourage try to protect him from the news that the European Union has fallen apart, an envoy arrives announcing that the first emperor of a nationalist Nova Europa has been chosen. The king takes matters into his own hands. “Could rising nationalism unleash another dark chapter of history? Why is fear so easily awakened? Why is hate sparked so swiftly? Why do people forget the lessons of the past so readily? Remembering the impact of her father's film The Great Dictator eighty years ago, Geraldine Chaplin, who appears in the film, is still convinced that mankind's best weapon is humour. We share her conviction”, say the directors of the Flemish film. A political satire, an unconventional sequel to King of the Belgians by the same filmmakers. (Warsaw Film Festival)